MLB Approves Padded Caps

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball approved the use of padded caps for pitchers. MLB approved caps by isoBlox, and the optional caps will reportedly be available “to pitchers at all levels when they report to Spring Training.”

According to MLB, the “threshold for approval was that the cap had to provide protection at 83 mph, which is “the average speed of a line drive when it reaches the area of the pitching mound,” according to a study that the league commissioned.

IsoBlox said the “caps are slightly more than a half-inch thicker in the front and an inch thicker near the temples than standard caps and provide frontal impact protection up to 90 mph and for side impact up to 85 mph.”